[Horrorscience] The Fly (1958)

The fly is one of those science fiction and horror characters that have been parodied and referenced on so many occasions that they become a recognizable icon even for people who have not read his original story or seen any of his films, just as happens with characters like Dracula either Frankenstein.

Although there are many films starring a half-human, half-fly being, the two most remembered are the 1958 version directed by Kurt Neuman and the 1986 version directed by David Cronenberg. This time we are going to talk about the first of them, a film low-budget film that was faithfully based on the story written by George Langelaan.

The film begins when Helene (Patricia Owens) calls her brother-in-law François (Vincent Price) to tell him that she has killed her husband André (David Hedison) using the steamroller at the factory they own. Faced with this news, François calls the police who quickly show up at the factory to see André's body, which is recognized thanks to a scar on his leg, since his head and arms are completely crushed.

his wife Helene admits to killing him, but refuses to explain why she did it., since apparently there was no problem between the couple. The police will keep Helene under the supervision of a nurse, as they suspect that she may have gone crazy, which is confirmed by the attacks she has when she sees a fly in her room.

Due to this, the custody of his son Philippe passes into the hands of his uncle François who discovers that apparently, shortly before his father's death, Philippe found a strange fly with a white head and a deformed leg, which he was forced to release by order of his mother, who a few minutes later asked him again to look for it urgently.

Knowing the story of the strange fly, François goes to talk to Helene again, because he believes that there is the key to everything that has happened. Helene, who believes that François has the white-headed fly, decides to tell him and the police inspector what happened.

Apparently, a month ago her husband had invented a way to teleport matter using two containers prepared for this purpose. At first the investigation was going well, but Unfortunately one day her husband suffered an accident that turned him into a monstrous being., which caused the fatal events at the beginning of the film.

This film was a resounding success in its day, despite its limited budget. Perhaps a large part of its success is due to how coherent and serious the plot is narrated, which is tremendously faithful to George Langelaan's story, which explained the events to us by emphasizing the human drama, of which we know the outcome, but not the events that caused it.

The few changes that there are in the film regarding the story are acceptable, to the point that they give it a little more depth. For example, in the book, André states that with each passing day he loses more brain capacity, that it is difficult for him to think, that the other part of his body seems to have more control, in the film this is put into practice by showing André fighting against himself, trying to stay human until the last moment. Another added scene is the one at the end, which is quite disturbing and serves to tie together the scene with which the entire film ends.

Curiosities:

• This film was included in the newspaper's list of the best films in the entire history of cinema. New York Times.
• Kurt Neuman, the director of this film, died without knowing the success of this film. Neuman's death is a somewhat strange topic, as some sources say he died of natural causes and others say he committed suicide before the film was released.
• Although nuclear energy has nothing to do with the film, some advertising posters deceptively mentioned it to attract the public's attention, since it was a topic that was fashionable.